The US military renewed its violations of the so-called ceasefire with the Islamic Republic of Iran late on 25 May, launching fresh airstrikes on areas in the country’s south.
After Iranian media reported large explosions in the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas overnight, as well as similar sounds around Sirik and Jask along the Persian Gulf coast, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced its new violations.
CENTCOM claimed early Tuesday that it carried out “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran, allegedly targeting IRGC naval boats attempting to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
It also said it hit missile launch sites around Bandar Abbas.
Spokesman Tim Hawkins claimed US forces acted “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” adding that CENTCOM “continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire.”
Washington allegedly targeted an Iranian air defense site, which CENTCOM said was trying to intercept US fighter jets.
Hours later, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that it shot down a US MQ-9 drone over the Persian Gulf after a US violation of Iranian airspace.
The IRGC said its air defense units detected and downed the drone following “precise intelligence monitoring,” adding that Iranian forces also fired at a US RQ-4 drone and an “intruding” F-35 fighter jet, forcing them to retreat and leave Iranian airspace.
The statement went on to warn against “any violation of the ceasefire” by the “aggressor US military.” It stressed that Tehran considers retaliatory action against any future attacks to be “legitimate and certain.”
“The heavy gunfire heard near Bandar Abbas erupted after the IRGC targeted a vessel at sea, followed by US fighter jets striking IRGC naval boats in the Gulf,” Al Jazeera correspondent Ali Hashem cited an Iranian source as saying. According to the same source, several IRGC Navy personnel were killed in the attack.
According to US officials cited by Fox News, Washington’s attacks do not signal the collapse of the ceasefire with Iran, and the strikes are “over for now.”
The new escalation came as US President Donald Trump repeated his assertions that Iran’s enriched uranium will be “immediately turned over” to Washington.
“The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the US to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event,” he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on the same day that the Strait of Hormuz is “going to be opened one way or another.”
“I think there’s strong alignment and agreement on what a preliminary draft should look like. I think, like anything with something like this, it’s going to take a couple days to settle, even down to disagreements over a word or a sentence. It’s either going to be a good deal or there isn’t going to be one,” Rubio added.
The comments coincided with intense, Pakistani-led mediation efforts aimed at breaking a major deadlock in negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
Both sides have doubled down on their demands since reports and officials claimed a draft agreement was almost concluded.
The draft was meant to postpone nuclear issues and focus on immediate de-escalation efforts, according to recent reports. However, the US has so far refused to lift its illegal blockade on Iranian ports, imposed during the ceasefire.
Iran wants reparations, a full ceasefire in Lebanon and across the region, sanctions removal, management over the Strait of Hormuz, and a regional US troop withdrawal.
Tehran has repeatedly refused to send its enriched uranium to a third country, as the US and Israel are demanding. Saudi media claimed this week that Iran could be open to sending the uranium to China.
Negotiations remain largely at an impasse due to major and ongoing disagreements.
Washington had already violated the truce by attacking several vessels and bombing Iran’s coast earlier in May. Iranian forces targeted two US military vessels in response. The next day, skirmishes broke out between Iranian and US forces in the Strait of Hormuz.
Unannounced Iranian strikes on the UAE have also taken place throughout the so-called ceasefire.